Kent Somers, The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, covering the Arizona Cardinals and the NFL. I'm a graduate of Utah State University, Harvard of the Intermountain West. I've worked for The Republic since 1985 and have covered the Cardinals and the NFL since the mid-1990s.

Can’t have too many cornerbacks

In today’s NFL, it’s becoming impossible to say that a team has too many cornerbacks. That appears to be what the Cardinals are thinking in acquiring Kansas City’s Javier Arenas in exchange for fullback Anthony Sherman.

The trade makes sense for both sides. Neither player stood a good chance of making their former team’s roster. In Sherman, Kansas City gets a fullback who fits the West Coast prototype. He can catch, though he wasn’t asked to do it much in Arizona (13 in two years). He is a solid special teams player, too, and liked by his teammates.

Under Bruce Arians, the Cardinals will use a tight end as a lead blocker when called for. Arians likes the flexibility that gives him. It keeps defenses guessing at exactly where the tight end is going to be and what he is going to do.

Now, to the team’s cornerbacks. By my count, the addition of Arenas gives the Cardinals 9, including the recent rookie free agents signed.

At the recent minicamp, Peterson and Powers were with the first team. Cason, Fleming and Bethel were the top backups.

Nine cornerbacks doesn’t seem like an unreasonable amount to take to training camp. And Bethel has the versatility to play safety. Fleming would be a candidate, I would think, to also cross-train at safety.

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